Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1887-12-09
BISMARCK. DAKOTA. FRIDAY, DEC. 9 1897

| sacrifice of the interests of his
employees, either in their opportunity
to work or in diminution of their CONF
pensatiOn. Nor can the workers in manu-
factories fail to unders tand that while q
, high tariff is claimed to be necessary to
allow the payment of remunerative wages,
1t certainly results in a very large increase
in the price of nearly all sorts of manufac-
! tories, which, in almost countless forms, he
needs for the use of himself and family.
He receives at the desk of his employer
his wages and perhaps before he reaches
his home is obliged, in q purchase for fam
| lily use OF an article which embraces his
own labor, to return in the payment of the
| increase in price which the tariffs permit
the hard earned compensation of many
days of toll.
the FARMER AND THE .AGRICULTURIST,
who manufacture nothing, but who
| pay the increased price which the tariff
imposes upon every agricultural imple-
ment, upon all he wears and upon all he
uses and owns, except the increase of his
t1ocks and herds and such things as his
vited to aid in maintaining the present
situation and he is told that a high duty on
imported wool is necessary for the benefit
of those who have sheep to shear, i'll order
that the price of their wool may be in
creased. They, of course, are not re-
minded that the farmer who has no sheep
is by this scheme obliged, in his purchase
of clothing and wooden goods, to pay
tribute to his fellow farmer, as well as to
the manufacturer and merchant. Nor is
any mention made of the fact that the
sheep-owners themselves and their house.
holds must wear clothing and use other
articles manufactured from the wool they
cal lft for nd thrc
must return their share of this increased
price to the tradesman. l think it may be
fairly assumed that a large proportion of
the sheep owned by the farmers through
out the country are found in small flocks
numbering from twenty-five to fifty. The
duty on the grade of imported wool which
these sheep yield is 1Ocents each pound If of
the value Of 80 cents or less, and IL cents if
of the value of more than 80 cents. If the
liberal estimate Of six pounds be allowed
for each fleece, the duty thereon would be
TO or 72 cents, and they may be taken as
! the utmost enhancement of the price to
the farmer by reason of this duty. Eigh-
! teen dollars would thus represent the in
creased price of the wool from twenty-five
sheep and 1886 dollars that from the wool
of fifty sheep and at present values their
addition would amount to about one
third of its price. Ii upon its sale the
farmer receives this or less tariff profit,
precisely that sum, which in all its changes
will adhere to it until it reaches the con-
sumner when manufactured into cloth and
other goods and material for use Its cost
is only increased to the extent of the farm
er's tariff profit but a further sum has been
added for
THE PROFIT OF THE MANUFACTURER
! under the operation of other tariff laws.
In the meantime the day arrives when the
farmer finds it necessary to purchase
woolen goods and material to clothe him
self and family for winter. When he faces
the tradesman for thatpurpose he discOv-
ers that he is obliged not only to return in
| the way Of increased prices the tariff profit
| on the wool he has sold and which then
perhaps lies before him in manufactured
form, but that he must add considerable
sum thereto to meet further increase in
cost caused by tariff duty on the manu-
| facture. Thus in the end he is aroused to
the fact that he has paid upon moderate
purchase as result of the tariff scheme
which when he sold his wool seemed so
profitable an increase in price more than
sufficient to sweep away all the tariff profit
he received upon the wool he produced
and sold. When the number of farmers
engaged in wool raising is compared with
all the farmer in the country and the small
proportion they bear to our population is
considered; when it is made apparent that
in the case of large part of those who
own sheep, the benefit of the present tariff
is illusory and above all, when it must be
conceded that the increase of the cost OF
living caused by such tariff becomes a bur-
den upon those with moderate means, and
| the poor, the employed and unemployed,
! the sick and we'll and the young and old
| and that it constitutes tax which with
relentless grasp is fastened upon the cloth
| ing of every man, woman and child in the
| land. reasons are suggested why the re-
moval or reduction Of this duty should be
| included in revision of our tariff laws.
/ In speaking Of increased cost to the con-
| sumer of our home manufactures, resulting
| from duty laid upon imported articles of
| the same description, the fact is not over
looked that competition among our domes.
| tic producers sometimes has the effect of
keeping the price Of their products below
the highest limit allowed by such duty, but
| it is notorious that this competition is too
often strangled by combinations, quite
prevalent at this time and frequently
called ''trusts," which have for their object
the regulation of the supply and price Of
the combination. The people can hardly
hope for any consideration in the opera
ton of these selfish schemes. If, however,
in the absence of such combinations a
healthy and free competition reduces the
price OF any particular duuaDle article OF
home production below the limit which it
might otherwise reach under tariff laws,
and if with such reduced price its manu-
facture continues to thrive, it is entirely
evident that
ONE THING HAS BEEN DISCOVERED
which should be carefully scrutinized in
an effort to reduce taxation. The neces-
sity Of combination to maintain the price
of any commodity to the tariff point fur
nishes proof that some one is willing to
accept lower prices for such commodity
and that such prices are remunerative, and
lower prices produced by competition
prove the same thing. Thus where either
of these conditions exist a case would
| seem to be presented for an easy reduc-
| ton of taxation. The considerations which
have been presented touching our tariff
laws are intended only to enforce an
| earnest recommendation that surplus rev.
enues of the government be prevented by
the reduction of our customs duties and at
the same time to emphasize q suggestion
that In accomplishing this purpose we may
discharge double duty to our people by
granting to them measure Of relief from
] tariff fay0tiOD In uuartPFR where IL n most